Robert Sullivan's The Meadowlands tells the tale of a young man's two year love affair with a marshy wasteland just a few minutes west of New York City. This book is Sullivan's detailed journal, containing many months' worth of stories told by interesting characters encountered throughout his adventures in the Meadowlands. The people he meets throughout the few years he spends studying and exploring New York's wastelands represent each familiar quirk of a personified Meadowlands.
             This idea of a love affair with the area surrounding the Hackensack River is not very apparent in the first half of the book. In fact, it is arguable that the idea is not even present. Instead, Sullivan utilizes these beginning chapters to familiarize the reader with the concept of nature within an industrial waste area, along with the general history of the mareshes, detailing the causes and effects of various events on the area.
             We finally start to see Sullivan interacting with the people of the Meadowlands in the chapter called "Valley of the Garbage Hills".
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